Internal purifier



March 22, 1960 c. CAMPBELL INTERNAL PURIFIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed July 29. 1955 I. l w w R mm mw m A L 5 E L R A H C WATZEB EDGEPTO/V A 7' TOE/V5 Y5 March 22, 1960 c. L. CAMPBELL 2,929,465

INTERNAL PURIFIER Original Filed July 29 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C HA El. E5 1. A NGOON MNPBEL L WA TTSA'EDGEETON fl/ff A TTOENEYS March 22, 1960 c. CAMPBELL INTERNAL PURIFIER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed July 29. 1955 INVENTOR. GI /ARIES LANGflO/VCA/IPBEZL plies of purified water.

.grade .of the ,end product desired.

United States Patent INTERNAL PURIFIER Charleslangdon Campbell, -Painesv'ille, Ohio, assignorjto Centr'ifix Corporation, Coiumbus, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application July 29, 1955, Serial No.;52'5,196, now *Patent No. 2,864,463, datedDecernber-lo, 1958. Divided and this application July 21, 1958, Serial .No. 749,859

5 Claims. (Cl. 183 81) The present invention relates generally to the purification art and is more particularly concerned with novel apparatus for separating liquid and solid entrainment from substances flowingin the gaseous phase such as steam, air, gases and vapors.

There are classical purification problems which have withstood all the efforts devoted over a long period of time to the development of satisfactory solutions. One of these concerns the eliminationof salinity from sea water to make it suitable for human consumption and for use in steam generator operation. In theory, sea water can be distilled to produce a condensate which will besweet and potable, and this result is actually obtained in laboratory-scaleoperations where close control is exercised. From a practical standpoint, however, it has never heretofore been commercially feasible to carry out a .distillationoperation onshipboard to meet-a substantial proportion of the needs ofieither the personnel or the ships boilers. The distillation equipment required for sizable production would be ponderous and expensive to install and operate tothepoint where it .is more economical .to, carry all the water required. In

fact, the almost universal practice until veryrecently has alwaysbeen to store water for a voyage rather than to attemptvto relyupon sea water processing.

.Within.the past few'years, with the development of the internal purifier, it-has begun-to appear that thesea water purificationrproblem .can be eliminated. Commercial units of this equipmenthave gone into service in both shore and shipboard installations and have, to

,a large extent, met anddisposed of the difficulties of the prior art. devices and have provided abundantsup- Nevertheless, these'units have not been considered to meet fully the requirements of the more exacting operators and consumers in respect to the purity of theproducts obtainable. Consequently, to

provide acceptable ,water in a sea water purification operation, in'these'prior art devices, it would be necessary to use aduplex procedure to extract impurities in twoor-more stages,,depending upon the degree of contamination -of the entering solution and the purity or This meant that either capacity would be diminished or the investment -would have to bedoubled or. tripled to provide separating facilities necessary to carry out the duplexing operation.

I have .discovered that this prior art internal purifier equipment can be reconstructed to effect the separations necessary inone, step to produce the highest qualityand purity water v products.

. per million of dissolved solids. Moreover, this result has "beeniobtainedusing an entering solution containing,5% by weight of-dissolvedsolids, i.e., approximately 50,000

parts'per million.- This compares with-the best performance of thebest previous separator design in which, under the most favorable conditions, a condensate containing about 3 parts per million of-dissolved solids is consistentiy obtained only when the total dissolved solids in the infed water do notexceed about 5,000 parts per million.-

As indicated above, this invention has the additional substantial advantage of being applicable to the basic design of the best internal purifiers heretofore known. The changes required in these devices are relatively small so that the manufacturing procedures will require only slight modifications to convert to the production of the devices of this invention.

As another advantage of this invention, it is not neces- ,sary to make the prior devices any larger or more 1 sive to adapt them to the application of my present adversely aifected'by the incorporation of the novel features of this invention in them.

In brief, the centrifugal separating apparatus ofthis invention comprises an outer cylindrical shell open at one end and closed. at its other end and having tangential inlet openings of airfoil design in its side wall, an inner cylindrical shell disposed inand radially spaced from the outer shell and having'an open end. and a closed end and tangential inlet openings inits side wall, diaphragm means closing thespace betweenthe outershell and the inner shell to provide an outer separating chamher, and a nozzle disposed between the open ends of the inner and outer shells comprising a cylinder having an outwardly-rolled lip and an inlet portionadjacentto the open end of the inner shell. Additionally, the inner shell is provided with a vortex control feature in the form of a frusto conical bodyjdisposed substantially c oaxially of the innershell with its basedirected forward the open end of the said inner shell.

Those skilledin the art will gain a further and better understanding of thisinvention upon consideration of the detailed descriptiouset forth below, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, in whichb Fig. 1 is atop plan view, partly in section, of aninternal purifier embodying this invention in a'pref err ed form;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, sectional view take n on line 22inFig.1;' .L

Fig. 3 is avertical, sectional view of; the device of Fig. 1 taken on line 3-3 thereof; 4 a

Fig.4 is an enlarged, fragmentaryview in section of the device of Fig. 1, showing the drainfopening through the diaphragnratthe lowerportion of the primary separating chamberyand Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview similar to Fig. 3i of an alternative form of internal purifier of this invention.

As illustratedin these drawings, a centrifugal separating apparatus embodying this invention in general comprises an outer cylindrical shell which is open at one end and closed at the'other and which has tangential inlet openings in its side wall. In addition, it includes an inner cylindrical shell disposed in and radially spaced from the outer shell and having one. end open and the other closed and having tangential inlet openings-.inits side wall. Diaphragm means are provided closing the ,space between the outer. shell and the inner shell to,pro-

vide an outer separating chamber and a nozzle disposed between the openends of 'the inner' and outer shells.

. h n zz m isa a nd h v n a r qu ward yrolled lip and an inletportion adjacent tothe openi jnd of the inner shell.

More particularly and with reference t0 FlgS. 1 4,

inclusive; atypical device of this inventionconiprisesj a cylinder ltlopen at the top and closedfat the bottoin by a floor plate '11. Seven longitudinally-extending,

Patented Mar. 22, 196 0 equally-spaced openings 12 are provided in the intermediate portion of the side of the cylinder for the delivery into this apparatus of steam or other gas to be treated and purified. A baffle scoop orcurved blade 13 is provided adjacent to each of these openings, being secured to or preferably formed integrally with cylinder and disposed on the upstream side of the respective openings 12. Scoops 13 are formed to define in cross-section (Fig. l) a segment of a circle or an air foil and are dimensioned and located to define a throat 15 between cylinder 10 and the blade edge of each scoop 13 adjacent to its inlet opening 12.

- An inner cylindrical shell 16 is disposed coaxially within shell 10 and is, closed at its lower end by plate 11. At its upper end, shell 16 is open and is provided with a curved lip 18 flaring outwardly for the discharge of gases being treated in this apparatus. In its intermediate portion, the inner shell has fifty closely spaced, tangentially-cut blades 19 and inlet openings 20 for flow of gas from the space between shells 10 and 16 into shell 16 in a counterclockwise direction. as indicated in Fig. 1. Blades 19 are approximately the same length as baflie scoops 13 and are opposed to them to facilitate gas flow through the apparatus. Upper and lower diaphragm plates 22 and 23 are disposed horizontally between the upper portions and the lower portions of .the inner shell and the opposed portions of the outer shell effectively closing the outer separating space or chamber 24 wherein the baiiie scoops and blades 19 are located in order to channel gas flow into the inner shell.

An annular opening 25 is provided for drainage from the lower portion of space 24, being defined between plate 23fand inner shell 16. An opening 27 is provided in. upper diaphragm plate 22 and a pipe 28 is connected to that plate to receive drainage therefrom and to conduct collected liquid downwardly through space 24, plate 23 and floor plate 11. Drains are also provided to serve the lower portion of the apparatus, an opening 29 in plate 11 serving to permit drainage of condensate through the plate and into a pipe 30.

A nozzle 32 comprising a relatively short cylindrical body having a lower inlet opening 33 disposed coaxially of the inner shell 16 is situated above lip 18 to receive gases flowing upwardly from the inner separating chamber. The upper open end of nozzle 32 is formed with an outwardly-rolled lip 34 similar in form to lip 18. Nozzle 32 has a diameter equivalent to a circular area equivalent to the total open area of the tangential inlet' openings so that gases flowing towardthe upper end of the apparatus are throttled tosome degree in travel into and through the nozzle. A baflie plate 35 is provided to prevent escape of gas around the nozzle, being con nec'ted to the upper portion of shell 10 and to nozzle 32 to define in cooperation with shell 10 and upper diaphragm plate 22 a raceway 36 for gases traveling upwardly from the inner shell 16.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, drainage of condensate and particles accumulating on the upper side of baffle 35 is effected by means of a vertically-extending pipe 38 which communicates with the outlet chamber above plate 35 through opening 37.

As those skilled in the art will understand, any suitable, conventional type of equipment may be used in conjunction with this apparatus for the purpose of delivering gas into it through'openings 12. Likewise, such conventional apparatus as may be desired can be coupled to this device to receive purified gas emerging "through the top of shell 10.

An inverted, hollow, frusto-conical body 40 is sup ported in the lower portion of inner shell 16 by a drain. pipe 41 which extends through an axial opening in floor plate 11. Pipe 41 has a plurality of apertures 42 opening into the bottom of the inner separating cham bet at the level of the floor plate 11 for collection and drainage is facilitated by the provision of a plate 44 in the lower part of shell 16 which is disposed to define a frusto-conical space, the floor of which slopes downwardly toward pipe 41 from the lower portion of shell 16. The base of body 40 is directed upwardly toward the open end of shell 16 and this base has an outer or upper surface which is substantially fiat or monoplanar. Body 40 is so disposed on top of pipe 41 that its base is located well above the bottom of the apparatus and within the part of shell 16 where inlet openings 20 are provided. However, this base is below the horizontal mid-section of shell 16 and its maximum diameter is only approximately one-half the diameter of the inner shell.

In the operation of the apparatus of this invention, the gas, air, vapor or steam to be treated and purified is delivered into the apparatus through openings 12 at relatively high velocity on the order of heretofore conventional practice. As this gas travels through space 24 in a counterclockwise direction, a preliminary separation is madeas entrained drops, globules and solids strike against the blades 13 and are either forced downwardly to the bottom of the chamber 24 from which they are drained through opening 25, or are thrown against the back surface of the leading edge portion of the next blade downstream. Gravity plus the forces created by the rotational movement of the gas within outer cham ber 24 causes these precipitated liquids to move downwardly'along the outside surfaces of bafiles 13 for ulti mate drainage through openings 29 and 25 and pipe 3%. In accordance with the preferred practice,-liquids thus accumulated and drained through pipe 30 may be returned to the liquid being evaporated for separation in this apparatus.

The gas entering the inner separating chamber through openings -20 is thrown into a rapidly. revolving mass moving in a counterclockwise direction. Any remaining entrained liquids or solids consequently are thrown to the outer periphery of the revolving mass and against the inner side of shell 16. The thus separated or precipitated materials are then either driven downwardly into the lower part of shell 16 and collected on plate 44 and delivered thereby into pipe 41 through openings 42 therein, or are carried upwardly with the revolving niass of gas. -As the gas with admixed liquids and solids is discharged into raceway 36, the non-gaseous portion of'the mixture isto a large degree collected along the inner side of shell 10 and the underside of plate 35 and drained from the raceway chamber through openings 27 and pipe 28. The remaining fraction of unseparated non-gaseous material associated with the gases traveling upwardly from the inner separating chamber is conducted through nozzle 32 and again centrifuged on emerging over lip 34 with the result that these solids and liquids are caught against the inner surface of the upper part of cylinder 10 and collected and drained through opening 37 in plate 35 by means of pipe 36.

Curved lips 18 and 34 make possible, the highly effective and efiicient separations characteristic of the an paratus of this invention by preventing re-entrainment of separated liquid components which are held by centrifugal force and surface tension to these curved lips and then flow outwardly to the edge of the lips where they are discharged at an angle to the path of travel of the clean gas being discharged from the separator.

The gas leaving the apparatus through the top of cylinder 10 is substantially free from contamination byliquids and solids. A suitable form of collection device or nozzle means maybe provided for receiving this purified gas as those skilled in the art will understand.

The device illustrated in Fig. 5 bears a general resemblance to the device of Fig. l and while they both oficr the same novel advantages and operational features and embody the same invention, there are certain structural drainage of condensate and associated solids. differences between them, Fig. 5 device comprises a cylinder'fstl which is closed-at its :upper end by :top

.plate Stand-is closed at its lower end by plate :52ihaving a central opening for the downward discharge .of gases from the apparatus.

A plurality of openings of reduced diameter are provided in plate 52 for the discharge of liquid from cylinder Stiand threaded tubes 55 are welded to plate "52 toreceiveliquids discharged through these openings.

Seven longitudinally-extending, uniformly-spacedzopenings are provided in the upper side portion of cylinder 50 for the delivery into the apparatus of steam and other gases to be treated and purified. Bafile scoops 57 of shape, form and function similar to scoops '13 of the Fig. 1 device are provided adjacent to these longitudinal openings, being formed integrally with cylinder 50 and disposed on the upstream side of the respective longitudinallopenings. The upper ends of these scoops abut the lower side surface of top plate 51 to block gas flow over the upper ends of the scoops.

An inner cylindrical shell 59 is disposed in shell 50 and'coaxially thereof, and is secured at its upper end fluid tightly to top plate 51. Shell 59 is open to its lower end which terminates within cylinder 50 in .a curved lip 60 flaring outwardly for the discharge of gases into race-way 61. In its intermediate portion the inner shell is provided with two vertically spaced series of tangentially-cut blades 62 and inlet openings for flow of gas from the annular space between shells 50 and 59 into the inner shell in a counterclockwise direction after the manner illustrated in Fig. 1 and described indetail above.

Blades 62 in the aggregate are of length approachinghorizontally disposed with its inner peripheral portion uniformly spaced from shell 59 to define a small annular gap 67 for drainage of condensate from the inlet chamber defined by cylinder 5 shell 59, top plate 51 and diaphragm plate 65.

A hollow, frusto-conical shell 70 is disposed within shell 59 and coaxially therewith, being secured by welds to top plate 51 so that its base portion is disposed in the upper part of shell 59 to limit the depth of the vortex formed in operation of the device.

A nozzle in the form of a cylindrical shell 75 is provided at lower end of the device, being welded to plate 52 in axial alignment with shell 59. The inner wall of nozzle 75 projects into race-way space 61, while the outer end of the nozzle is disposed below plate 52. The inside diameter of nozzle 75 is substantially less than the inside diameter of shell 59, this relationship being like that between nozzle 32 and shell 16 of the Fig. 1 ap paratus.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the operation of the Fig. 5 apparatus will be essentially the same as the operation described in detail above, the principal dilference being that discharge from the Fig. 5 apparatus is through the lower end rather than the upper end of the vertically disposed separating vessel. It has been found in actual practice that equally effective separations can be made by these two typesof devices of this invention. Therefore the operator is afforded a choice to satisfy the special limitations of his equipment and conditions in the use of this invention apparatus.

In reference to the separating effect accomplished in the inner separating chamber, inverted frusto-conical body 40 functions to control the vortex of the revolving mass of gas and associated solids and liquids. By this device, the vertex in this whirling-mass iiSi'PIYfiYfiIllEdfIYOHl extending :into ;race-wa-y,3.6 :and :nozzle ,32 and thereby limiting the gavailablefiow area and producing a high pressure .drop throughtthe separator unit. .By flattening the vortexlso" that it; is entirely contained within the separating chamber, the efliciency oftheseparation operationzis materiallyyincreased. -At theisametime the pres- 463, issued December 16, 1 958.

Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise and'exact terms as to enable-any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best mode contemplated of carrying out this invention, I state that the subject matter which rl regard as being my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it being understood that equivalents ,or modifications of,

or substitutions-for, parts of the above specifically described embodiment of the invention may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in what is claimed.

lclaim:

1. Centrifugal separating apparatus comprising an outer cylindrical shell open at one end and closed at the other end and having elongated inlet openings extending axially ,of said shell, an inner cylindrical shell disposed in the outer shell and defining therewith an outer separating chamber and having an open end and a closed end and elongated inlet openingsrin its side wall, blades attached to .the inner side ofsaid side wall adjacent to said openings and disposed tangentially relative to said wall, a diaphragm means including an upper diaphragm plate disposed between the inner and outer shells, and closing the top of'thevouter separating chamber and=a lower'diaphragmrplate closing the lower end of'the said separating chamber:.and,pr'oviding with the inner shell a drainage.openingservingthesaid'outer chamber, a plurality'iof bafiie blades :disposed in. spaced relation to each other in the outer separating chamber and extending the full length of the inlet openings in the outer shell and longitudinally relative to the latter, said blades each serving a separate opening and being secured to the outer shell on the upstream side and along the length of its respective opening and having the other longitudinal edge portion directed toward the outer shell downstream from the said opening and providing a throat through which gases entering the separator must first flow tangentially, and vortex control means comprising a frusto-conical body disposed coaxially in the inner shell with its apex directed toward the closed end of the apparatus, said body having a base with a substantially monoplanar outer surface of diameter approximating one-half the in side diameter of the inner shell and disposed farther from the open end than from the closed end 'of the inner shell and between the ends of the inlet openings in said inner shell.

2. Centrifugal separating apparatus comprising an outer cylindrical shell open at one end and closed at the other end and having elongated inlet openings extending axially of the shell, an inner cylindrical shell disposed coaxially in the outer shell and spaced radially therefrom and having a closed end and an open end directed toward the open end of the outer shell and having elongated inlet openings in its side wall, blades attached to the inner side of said side wall adjacent to said openings and disposed tangentially relative to said wall and vortex control means comprising a frusto-conical body disposed 7 inner shell and disposed farther "from the open end than from the closed end of the inner shell and between the ends of the inlet openings in said inner shell.

3. Centrifugal separating apparatus comprising an outer cylindrical shell open at one end and closed at the other end and having elongated inletopenings extending axially of said shell, an inner cylindrical shell disposed in the outer shell and defining therewith an outer separating chamber and having an open end and a closed end and elongated inlet openings in its side wall, diaphragm means including-an upper diaphragm plate disposed between the inner and outer shells, and closing the top of. the outer separating chamber and a lower diaphragm plate closing the lower end of the'saidseparating charnber and providing with the inner shell a drainage opening serving the said outer chamber, and a plurality of baffle blades disposed in spaced relation to each other in the outer separating chamber and extending the full length of the inlet openings in the outer shelland tangentially relative to the latter, said blades each serving a their concave sides facing outwardly of the apparatus and extending the full length of the inlet openings in the outer shell, said blades each serving a separate opening and being secured to the outer shell on the upstream side and along the length of its respective opening and having its other longitudinal edge portion spaced radially from the portion of the outer shell defining the downstream extremity of the said inlet opening and defining with said outer shell portion a throat through which gases entering the separator must first flow.

5. Centrifugal separating apparatus comprising an outer cylindrical shell open at one end and closed at the other end and having elongated inlet openings extending axially of the shell, an inner cylindrical shell disposed coaxially in the outer shell and spaced radially therefrom and having a closed end and an open end directed toward the open end of the outer shell and having elongated inlet openings in its side wall terminating at substantial distances from the ends of the inner shell, and vortex control means comprising a hollow frusto-conical body disposed coaxially in the inner shell with its apex directed toward the closed end of the apparatus and a tubular support for the body extending coaxially through the closed end of the inner shell and having drainage openings to receive liquid collecting at the closed end of the said inner shell, said body having a base with a substan- 4. Centrifugal separating apparatus comprising an outer cylindrical shell open at one end and closed at the other end and having elongated inlet openings extending axially of said shell, an inner cylindrical shell disposed in the outer shell and defining therewith an outer separating chamber and having an open end and a closed end and elongated inlet openings in its side wall, diaphragm means including an upper diaphragm plate disposed between the inner and outer shells, and closing the top of the outer separating chamber and a lower diaphragm plate closing the lower end of the said separating chamber and providing with the inner shell a drainage opening serving the said outer chamber, and a plurality of baffie blades of arcuate cross-section disposed in spaced relation to each other in the outer separating chamber with tially monoplanar outer surface of diameter approximately one-half the inside diameter of the inner shell and disposed farther from the open end than from the closed end of the inner shell and between the ends of the inlet openings in said inner shell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,539,435 Schultz l May .2, 1925 1,898,608 Alexander Feb. 21, 1933 1,917,606 Sillers July 11, 1933 2,256,524 McKelvey Sept. 23, 1941 2,489,903 Kraft et al. NOV. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE or aoaaacmoa Patent No. 2 929v 46-5 March 22 1960 I Charles Langdon Campbell 2 It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below,

In the grant line 2 and in the heading to the printed speoifioation line l address of the assignee for "Columhus Ohio'fl each occurrence read Cleveland Ohio column 6 line 44 for "longitudinally" read -tangentially m Signed and sealed this day of August 1960.,

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL AXLINE ROBERT c. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

